South Dakota primary turnout highest since 2010 election

June 10, 2022

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Officials say South Dakota recorded its largest primary election turnout in more than a decade, with roughly one in every three registered voters casting a ballot on Tuesday.

The 32% showing was the most since the 2010 primary, when nearly 35% of voters cast ballots in a race with several Republicans fighting for the nomination for governor. The nod went to Dennis Daugaard.

The 2010 and 2022 primaries were similar in makeup in that Democratic presidents who were unpopular in the state, Joe Biden and Barack Obama, were in the middle of their first terms.

This year’s turnout was bolstered by a historic number of Republican legislative primaries and a controversial constitutional amendment.